The air was heavy with static.
Arin felt it before he saw anything—the prickling in his skin, the low hum of corrupted energy building around him. The broken horizon twisted, collapsing into a jagged canyon of shifting terrain. Every breath he took tasted like burnt metal.
Lyra's eyes narrowed as she scanned the warping landscape. "This isn't just a zone instability. Something's forcing it open."
Arin's HUD flickered violently.
[System Alert: Unauthorized Rewrite Detected.]
[Source: ???]
His stomach clenched. He knew that signature. He had felt it once before, when he had lost.
"Kael."
The name was barely a whisper, but the world seemed to react. From the rift ahead, black flame erupted, consuming everything in its path. A figure stepped through the distortion, his body outlined in shifting shadows, eyes glowing with corrupted fire.
Kael.
But not the same Kael Arin had fought before. His armor pulsed with raw system code, jagged fragments of weapons floated around him like satellites, and his corrupted aura twisted the very ground beneath his feet.
"Still breathing, Arin?" Kael's voice carried across the broken canyon, sharp and cruel. "I almost thought the patch had erased you already."
Arin tightened his grip on his blade, forcing a steady tone despite the storm inside him. "You're looking worse than I remember."
Kael laughed, a hollow, distorted sound. "Worse? No. Stronger. The system tried to wipe me out, but I bent it to my will. I embraced the corruption instead of running from it. And now—" he spread his arms, his aura flaring, "—I'm untouchable."
Lyra stepped forward, her glow defiant against the darkness. "You've become nothing but a puppet. Can't you hear it? The Core is inside you."
Kael's gaze flicked to her, his smile sharpening. "Funny. Coming from the Core's pet fragment."
Lyra stiffened, but Arin's voice cut in before Kael could press further. "Enough. If you came here just to gloat, save it. What do you want, Kael?"
"What I've always wanted," Kael said simply. "Control. This world is chaos, Arin. Broken, unstable, collapsing. But with the system's power, with our power, it can be rebuilt. Not patched, not erased. Reforged. Under my rule."
Arin barked a laugh, though his chest felt tight. "So you play god while everyone else suffers? Sounds about right."
Kael's eyes burned hotter. "And you? What do you think you're doing, 'Bugged One'? Every exploit you use drags you closer to corruption. You're not saving this world—you're just tearing it apart slower than I am."
The words hit harder than Arin wanted to admit. His HUD flickered, the corruption meter pulsing at 8.1% as if mocking him.
Lyra stepped closer, her voice sharp. "Arin is still himself. You gave that up the moment you surrendered."
Kael's aura flared again, the ground splitting beneath him. "We'll see how long he lasts."
Weapons of corrupted code floated into formation around him, blades humming with unstable energy.
Arin's pulse quickened. He could feel the weight of everything pressing down—his corruption creeping higher, Lyra's faith in him, and Kael's twisted reflection of what he might become if he gave in.
This wasn't just another fight. This was inevitable.
"Lyra," Arin said quietly, never taking his eyes off Kael. "Stay back. This one's mine."
She hesitated. "Arin—"
"Please." His voice was firm, steady in a way it hadn't been since the whispers began. "If I can't face him now, I'll never be ready for the Core."
Lyra's silver glow flickered, then softened. She gave a small nod.
Kael smirked. "Finally. No more running."
Arin raised his blade, the corrupted world screaming around them as two forces prepared to collide. His heartbeat thundered, his veins burned with unstable energy, and for the first time, he wasn't just fighting Kael.
He was fighting the future he refused to become.
The ground fractured. The system screamed.
And then they clashed.